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Jumat, 27 Maret 2009

Mayreau hosts The Caribbean Island Resort, the Saltwhistle Bay Club, which is a real Caribbean Hideaway in the Grenadines

Your arrival at Saltwhisle Bay is by boat, having been picked up at the airport on Union Island, and you are taken to Mayreau Island. Real holiday hideaways very often are only accessible by boat, and as you cross the channel to Mayreau you will realise, if you didn’t before what a small island it is.

Mayreau in fact is the smallest inhabited island in the Grenadines, being less than two square miles in size, with a population of about 250 living in a village on the south west of the island. Saltwhistle Bay Resort occupies the entire northern end of Mayreau island and the unspoilt beach shore of the windward side, which is considered by many windsurfers and kite boarders to be world class. Another reason for basing yourself here is that the famous, beautiful Tobago Cays are no distance away at all.

You will be greeted with a tray of rum punch, and your luggage will disappear, to reappear again in your bedroom, one of just ten rooms in stone cottages, scattered around behind a screen of palm trees in a 22 acre tropical garden. This is a simple and definitely barefoot type of place, but don’t be misled because it is also extremely comfortable but very low key. The cottages at Saltwhistle bay have been built using local wood and stone, and all feature king sized beds, with a spacious bed sitting area with an ensuite bathroom. Accessible from each room is a semi private shaded and furnished roof terrace.

It has to be described as a real Caribbean Hideaway because it is at least two plane journeys and a boat ride from home, so it is isolated. There is a little activity but not much, and the people who come here, do so to escape the speed and noise of life in the twenty first century. Most people who come to this Caribbean island resort come to read, relax, swing in a hammock and just generally enjoy the natural tropical life of a totally undeveloped tropical paradise. The bay is a perfect half moon of white sand and turquoise blue water, and must be one of the very best in the Caribbean

To summarise the key features of Saltwhistle Bay.

This is a very remote small Grenadines Hotel set on the smallest inhabited Grenadines Island of Mayreau, with a bar which can be lively with visiting yachtsmen, and an excellent stone and palm thatched garden restaurant which presents three good meals every day. It is an intimate, friendly hotel on a romantic Caribbean beach, with good swimming. This really is the classic Caribbean barefoot seclusion and attracts independent travellers, honeymooners and visiting yachtsmen.

Two things still to mention about this Caribbean Island resort which relate to tnings close by. The first is the Tobago Cays, the five uninhabited dream islands, and Saltwhistle Bay Club is the clsest resort to them, being just 15 minutes from the Cays and a snorkelling paradise. Not only that you can spend an afternoon on Petite Tobaque which is where Johnny Depp was marooned in the movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

The second thing is that you should visit the village on the other side of Mayreau where you will be able to eat some very good food at great value prices.

This Caribbean Island resort will not be for you if you like five star pampering but if you see yourself as a traveller as opposed to a holidaymaker then this Caribbean Hideaway could be perfect.

Rabu, 25 Maret 2009

As a Caribbean Vacation Destination Los Roques an archipelago of Venezuela has a lot going for it. Los Roques Archipelago is about one hundred miles north of Caracas, and is a beautiful and ecologically important group of islands which was declared a National Park some thirty five years ago.

One of its attractions as a Caribbean Vacation Destination is its relative inaccessibility, it is probably one of the most remote places of the Caribbean Sea because you either have to sail there or get a flight from Caracas or Margarita or Maracaibo, not names that are very familiar to tourists, European ones at any rate.

What makes Los Roques such a wonderful place is the peace and quiet and the relative calmness of the incredibly colored sea. There are masses of lagoons, over fifty small islands, three hundred emerged sand banks and white coral sand, few of them ever occupied. The sky is almost permanently blue, there is very little rain, and is outside the Caribbean hurricane belt.

Added to this is the fact that Los Roques has the third largest coral reef in the world, this is as Christopher Columbus observed on discovering Los Roques in the fifteenth century a “True Paradise on Earth”.

As Los Roques is a National park this automatically prohibits building high rise hotels so visitors stay in local guesthouses on Gran Roques where you arrive by air or sea, and is the only place with permanent settlements. It is home to over one thousand two hundred people.

The visitors, and there are around fifty thousand a year, who come to Los Roques for a Caribbean vacation are normally attracted by the stunning beauty of the beaches, and of course to scuba dive and snorkel the coral reef. Sport fishing and windsurfing are other popular activities at Los Roques

The guesthouses, inns and Pousadas on Gran Roques tend to be very picturesque, and are probably a luxuriously refurbished old fisherman house. Lodging usually includes breakfast and dinner, and can range in price for as little as USD50 to USD200 per night per person. Some of the guesthouses also include in the price transfers to nearby islands, lunch, sunbeds, umbrellas and equipment for snorkeling.

You could also stay on a boat, or even camp in specially designated areas, but far and away the most popular option is to stay in a pousada.

Having said the only accommodation is on Gran Roques, you can get to a small cay called Rasqui where there is a small lodge with only two rooms, and is really a private island. You should also visit Water Cay known as Cayo de Agua, which is totally deserted and absolutely beautiful.

Why not visit Dos Mesquises where the Los Roques Scientific Foundation has a program involving adopting a turtle, and is well worth visiting.

Could you find a better Caribbean Vacation destination than Los Roques Venezuela, where there are no hurricanes, miles and miles of white sand beaches, countless uninhabited islands and coral reefs teeming with multicolored undersea life.

There’s simply nowhere like it in the Caribbean, but go now whilst it is still a secret.

Selasa, 24 Maret 2009

A Reservation in an Hotel on Guadeloupe is something that many people do, but if you just fancy the look of the hotel but know nothing about Guadeloupe Island, it might be a good idea to do some investigating .

Guadeloupe isn’t France but a French Overseas Department, and in many ways is more France than its homeland itself. It is to France what Hawaii is to the United States. Until 2003 St Barthelemy, otherwise known at St Barts and St Martin were part of Guadeloupe but are now independently affiliated to France.

To look at Guadeloupe on a map and it looks butterfly wings connected by a bridge, and is in fact two islands, and the more north east wing is Grande-Terre, where Pointe-a-Pitre the main centre for commerce and the main seaport is to be found.

It is known for its white sand beaches, rolling hills, cane fields and this is almost certainly where your Guadeloupe Hotel Reservation will be made if you decide to come here. The best white sand beaches on Grande-Terre includes Ste. Anne, St Francois and Le Moule

The south west wing is called Basse-Terre, which is the larger of the two islands, where you will find waterfalls, a botanical garden, and a volcano which overlooks the waterfalls which in turn spray cool mists to soak the too adventurous visitor.

There is no doubt that Basse Terre has the main tourist attraction in La Soufriere Volcano almost five thousand feet above sea level. It is surrounded by the National Park a renowned rain forest, and in turn by beautiful deep blue seas. This is where you come for the diving which is so good it has been described as world class. There are darker sand beaches here, amongst the best of which are Grande Anse, and Deshaies.

The two butterfly shaped joined islands of Guadeloupe do have a number of things in common which includes delicious cuisine and genuine West Indian hospitality from really friendly people.

So you want to make a Reservation for an Hotel in Guadeloupe, and you want suggestions. This is always very difficult because reviews are so subjective, but the number one hotel in Basse Terre is probably Caraib’Bay Hotel. The top hotel in the St Francois beach area is the Amaudo Hotel. Close to the white sand beach of Ste. Anne your best bet may well be the Hotel Le Diwali. Of the hotels in Terre de Haut you couldn’t do better than L’Auberge les Petits Saints aux Anacardies.

If you want to stay in Gosier then choose Le Mahogany Hotel , and the top hotel in Pointe-a-Pitre is Le Jardin Malanga, or go to Marie-Galante and choose the Cap Reva.

Whilst the list isn’t endless, there are 94 hotels on Guadeloupe that you could make a reservation at, and so you are very much spoilt for choice.

Guadeloupe has much for its visitors to do from beachcombing, sea diving, jungle exploring, or just lying relaxing on a white sand beach. Why not make a Reservation in a Guadeloupe Hotel, and find out for yourself.

By the way the food owes much to its French origins, as does the wines, so you can expect fresh food, which is fabulous, with a leaning towards seafood, all of course with a strong Caribbean influence.

Kamis, 19 Maret 2009

If you are looking for a luxury private island, why not check out Palm Island in the Grenadines for your honeymoon

A Luxury private island is a dream vacation for many, and to have a private island honeymoon is what seems to be an impossible dream. In the island group of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines lies Palm Island, where you could make this dream come true, although you will have to share this private tropical island with other hotel guests.

Palm Island is about a mile from Union Island in the Grenadines, and there are just forty guest rooms which are scattered amongst the palm groves across the island. The island itself has five beaches inside coral reefs, and perfect for some relaxing snorkeling.

Most people fly into Union Island and then take a boat across to Palm Island where you are likely to be greeted by the manager with a rum punch.

Palm Island resort has two restaurants serving top quality cuisine from locally caught fish to international dishes. The Royal Palm Restaurant has one buffet night, and one barbecue night a week, on the other five days you order off the menu. Dinner then is five courses meal with some very interesting soups and desserts. If you’ve never eaten shark or swordfish then now is a good time to try!

If a buffet isn’t your thing, then you can go the the Sunset restaurant and although the menu is small it is very good.

You may feel the dinner service is slow, well what is your hurry. This is a luxury island, but it is a Caribbean Island, and the pace is slow. Isn’t that the point of a dream vacation, that you’re not in a hurry? Just relax, drink a bit more, and enjoy the sound of the waves in the background, you haven’t anywhere to go except the bar, a walk on the beach or bed. If this is your private island honeymoon, make sure you tell the resort when you are booking, and you may get upgraded to the honeymoon suite.

The honeymoon suite is at the end of the resort, so it’s very secluded without any passing traffic so to speak, with your own hammock under some palm trees. Nice room, huge walk in shower, permanently stocked fridge and a shaded deck with sun loungers and a table. There is even a foot shower to rinse off the sand before going into the room.

There is no air-conditioning, because frankly you don’t need any. There are beautiful cooling tropical breezes, just allow them in!!

Palm Island is very definitely a place for the dream vacation, a real luxury private island honeymoon spot, meant for couples who just want to get away from it all, and just enjoy the feeling of seclusion that only a private island can give you. Having said that the atmosphere is such that of you choose you can easily make friends at the bar, where you will find that most of your fellow guests are either from the UK or the USA.

Palm Island is very beautiful with soft white sand and the sea a shade of blue that almost looks like paint. You can go exploring every day, climb the hills, snorkel off the beaches, and never see another soul. It does really feel like your own luxury private island, and the perfect spot for a dream vacation or a private island honeymoon. Go to Palm Island in the Grenadines your Caribbean Island Hideaway.

Selasa, 17 Maret 2009

If you are looking for great Caribbean Accommodation on unspoilt Bequia then here are good reasons for choosing the Frangipani Hotel

Caribbean Accommodation can vary from the five star ultra deluxe to a bed and breakfast. It is difficult to get a compromise between the top of the market hotel where you are in a cocoon, and somewhere that you can enjoy the real Caribbean. Well Bequia in the Grenadines is a real old fashioned Caribbean Island, and the fifteen roomed Frangipani Hotel is a real home from home good old fashioned Caribbean Accommodation.

The original house was built by a Bequia sea captain for his family almost a hundred years ago, and overlooks, in fact is very much at the waters edge of Admiralty Harbour a popular anchorage for the many yachts that visit Bequia.

You can observe all the comings and goings from the open sided dining room or the sundeck upstairs, and they are part of the original building.

The original building rooms are one of the four different types of accommodation available in this Caribbean hideaway, and whilst they are perfectly comfortable, simple and charming, they have shared bathrooms and a common balcony.

The new build rooms are off a path which winds up the hill behind the hotel, so this may not be ideal for the elderly or infirm.

The Garden Rooms rise behind the old house, with private bathroom, and balcony overlooking the garden again with a fan but with separate dressing area.

Deluxe Hillside Rooms are large and spacious, private bathroom, separate dressing room, and some have TV/DVD.

Top of the range are the air conditioned DeLuxe Rooms with king size bed, private bathroom, separate dressing room, balcony with loungers, fantastic views of the bay and flatscreen TV and DVD player.

The Frangipani has a great reputation as Caribbean Accommodation partly because of its fine food, with fruit and vegetables from Saint Vincent, and fish, lobster from the sea around the Grenadines.. People come from far and near for the Frangi Barbecue on a Thursday night with a quite superb buffet and live music, so that is something not to be missed. By the way don’t miss out on the bar menu either which has a lot of very tasty choices.

When choosing your Caribbean Accommodation on Bequia or anywhere for that matter, situation is all important and the location of the Frangipani is a very good one. It is an easy walk to town with lots of dining choices on the way, and if you feel energetic you can walk to Princess Margaret or Lower bay beaches which are well worth the effort.

The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, and in fact you will find that the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are all the same, so you feel pretty safe here.

Frangipani Hotel is great, true, old fashioned Caribbean accommodation, probably best described as a Caribbean Inn on Bequia a proper Caribbean Island. It is safe to say that if it is five star frill you are looking for then bequia isn’t the place. If you want beauty, relaxation, lovely people, and no need for a watch, then Bequia is the place for you.